News

Dillon Caps Thompson Debut With Top-10 Finish 07/13/2008 Thompson, Conn. (July 13, 2008): NASCAR Camping World Series East point leader Austin Dillon posted his fifth top-10 finish in only his sixth series start Saturday night when he drove the #3 Garage Equipment Supply Chevrolet to a ninth place finish in the Full Fender Frenzy 100 at Thompson International Speedway. It was Dillon’s first time at the tricky 5/8th’s mile oval. “The car was just tight. We were never free the whole night,” said Dillon. “But, I learned a lot in the race, and I started driving harder later in the race. I learned how hard I can take these cars.” Dillon, who is the only driver this season to have completed every lap of every race, kicked off the day with a qualifying effort of 20.645 seconds (108.985 mph) for an 11th place starting position. With practice time at a premium, Dillon, who had never before ran an event at Thompson, used the first half of the race to become acclimated to the track and ran in the top-15 for a majority of that distance. “I ran about 50 laps here after New Hampshire just so that I could see what the track looked like, but other than that I had never even seen the place before,” said Dillon. “In the beginning of the race I had to figure out the line and see how hard I could drive the track.” After the midway point, Dillon turned up the heat and broke into the top-10 for a restart at lap 53. Immediately, the 18-year-old hotshoe got involved in a battle with Rogelio Lopez for the ninth spot. The two drove side-by-side with veteran Steve Park waiting in the wings. “We were racing hard and Rogelio races well with me,” said Dillon. “It was fun. I know I can race with him and he’ll race me clean. We were pretty evenly matched there for a while, but the #3 Garage Equipment Supply Chevrolet was a little better getting through there on the bottom and I was able to drive by and gain some ground.” A barrage of cautions littered the final 30 laps of the race making it hard for Dillon to advance his position in the field. He avoided several accidents to post a ninth place finish. “It was a really strong effort by Team Dillon Racing tonight,” said Dillon after the race. “There at the end it was just caution after caution and we didn’t have a lot of chances to get some passing in. We kept the points lead and we’re ready to head to Nashville.”